Countries located in the Northern Hemisphere may well heave a sigh of relief as weather forecasters from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said on Thursday the weather phenomenon twins El Niño and La Niña are less likely to develop through the late summer and towards the winter.

In a monthly report, the U.S. weather forecaster said indices showed a potential El Niño occurrence was neutral or near zero throughout April. It likewise noted ocean temperatures remained near average.

Earlier, the World Meteorological Organisation revealed that the year 2012 was the ninth among the recorded 10 warmest years since 1850. From January-December 2012, the global land and ocean surface temperature believed to have exceeded by 0.45°C the 1961-1990 average of 14.0°C, the WMO said.

It likewise said that eversince record-keeping began, the years 2001-2012 were actually among the earth's 13 warmest years.

"Although the rate of warming varies from year to year due to natural variability caused by the El Niño cycle, volcanic eruptions and other phenomena, the sustained warming of the lower atmosphere is a worrisome sign," Michel Jarraud, WMO Secretary-General, said.

"The continued upward trend in atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases and the consequent increased radiative forcing of the Earth's atmosphere confirm that the warming will continue."

Although the U.S. NOAA sees the neutral El Niño may extend into winter, its confidence in the forecast was low.

"There is still low confidence in the forecasts for the latter half of the year, partly because of the so-called spring barrier," it said.